Dierks Bentley Reveals Hit Songs He Passed On

Dierks Bentley has plenty of chart-topping hits to his credit, but he admits he let some good ones get away as well. The singer-songwriter has shared a few songs he passed on, which became mega-hits for someone else instead.

Bentley revealed during an intimate concert honoring the 10th anniversary of the CMA Songwriter Series -- which was taped for an upcoming episode of PBS' 'Front and Center' -- that he passed on Lee Brice's 'I Drive Your Truck,' Gary Allan's 'Watching Airplanes' and Luke Bryan's 'Drink a Beer.'

“It’s all about the right song finding the right home,” Bentley told the crowd (quote via Nashville's Tennessean), adding that 'Drink a Beer' especially was a song that was meant for Bryan.

Not that the Arizona native is struggling to find hit songs. Bentley has amassed 19 Top 20 hits, including his current single, 'Drunk on a Plane,' which is in the Top 5 and climbing. The song is the third single from his No. 1 album, 'Riser,' which includes six songs that Bentley co-wrote.

“When I first started writing for this album, I was in a place of grief over the loss of my dad, but over the course of the next 18 months, my wife and I had our son Knox, and I ended in a place of real joy and gratefulness,” Bentley recalls. “Both sides of that coin are what country music has always been about, and I hope that my fans can feel how much of myself I put into this project. It’s all out on the table, for sure.”